The Evolution/Creation Debate
Some of the most interesting and famous legal battles in America have been over religion and it's proper role in society. At the forefront of the debate is the role religion should play in public education. Even the most disinterested Americans have heard of the Scopes Trial (The validity of evolution prohibition statutes eventually reached the Supreme Court in Eperson v. Arkansas). More recently, litigation has focused on things like school vouchers that can be used at religious private schools and--the flip side of the evolution debate of the 1930s-1970s--teaching creationism (and/or intelligent design) in public school.
The New York Times has put together an interesting collection of articles covering the Evolution vs. Creation debate currently brewing in quite a few states. Especially interesting is the article discussing scientists' views on religion and G-d. When a panel of scientists at a science conference was asked if one could be a good scientist and still believe in G-d,
Other articles of interest are Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New Survey, Smithsonian to Screen a Movie That Makes a Case Against Evolution, Leading Cardinal Redefines Church's View on Evolution and the Op-Ed Design for Confusion
The New York Times has put together an interesting collection of articles covering the Evolution vs. Creation debate currently brewing in quite a few states. Especially interesting is the article discussing scientists' views on religion and G-d. When a panel of scientists at a science conference was asked if one could be a good scientist and still believe in G-d,
But agnosticism is not the only "religion" of scientists. As the article notes,Reaction from one of the panelists, all Nobel laureates, was quick and sharp. "No!" declared Herbert A. Hauptman, who shared the chemistry prize in 1985 for his work on the structure of crystals.
Belief in the supernatural, especially belief in God, is not only incompatible with good science, Dr. Hauptman declared, "this kind of belief is damaging to the well-being of the human race."
But disdain for religion is far from universal among scientists. And today, as religious groups challenge scientists in arenas as various as evolution in the classroom, AIDS prevention and stem cell research, scientists who embrace religion are beginning to speak out about their faith.
"It should not be a taboo subject, but frankly it often is in scientific circles," said Francis S. Collins, who directs the National Human Genome Research Institute and who speaks freely about his Christian faith.
Other articles of interest are Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New Survey, Smithsonian to Screen a Movie That Makes a Case Against Evolution, Leading Cardinal Redefines Church's View on Evolution and the Op-Ed Design for Confusion
posted by Fern @ Life on the Balcony at 9:50 AM
1 Comments:
I don't know if I am shocked at the apparent lack of theism in the science community. But perhaps it is just concealed, because it is "taboo." Personally I think it has to do with the divergence of science as a particularized branch, separated from mathematics and philosophy and metaphysics, which are the roots of the more particularized scientific disciplines. Modernly, scientists are bookish and probably don't have a lot of meaningful things to say about anything else, as compared with renaissance scientists like Da Vinci and Descartes.
Besides, Hume, an atheist, pretty much confounded the deductive process, on which science depends. So scientists who can't rely on a supreme order to the universe have the rugs pulled out from under them!
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